Solid-phase synthesis

Article summary

In chemistry, solid-phase synthesis is a method in which molecules are covalently bound on a solid support material and synthesised step-by-step in a single reaction vessel utilising selective protecting group chemistry. Benefits compared with normal synthesis in a liquid state include: * High efficiency and throughput * Increased simplicity and speed The reaction can be driven to completion and high yields through the use of excess reagent. In this method, building blocks are protected at all reactive functional groups. The order of functional group reactions can be controlled by the order of deprotection. This method is used for the synthesis of peptides, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA), and other molecules that need to be synthesised in a certain alignment. More recently, this method has also been used in combinatorial chemistry and other synthetic applications. The process was originally developed in the 1950s and 1960s by Robert Bruce Merrifield in order to synthesise peptide chains, and which was the basis for his 1984 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In the basic method of solid-phase synthesis, building blocks that have two functional groups are used. One of the functional groups of the building block is usually protected by a protective group. The starting material is a bead which binds to the building block.…

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